Brandon Weeden expects, welcomes competition

Posted by Josh Alper on February 8, 2013, 2:52 PM EST

AP

New Browns coach Rob Chudzinski said last month that it would be “premature” to call Brandon Weeden the team’s starting quarterback for the 2013 season, something that doesn’t seem to have taken Weeden by surprise.

During an appearance in Oklahoma on Friday, Weeden said that he fully expects to have competition for the starting job in Cleveland. Weeden called it “fun” to compete to try to win a job and that he wouldn’t be doing things any differently than Chudzinski and company if he were making the decisions for the franchise.

“I expect competition. That’s the way professional sports are. Unless you’re Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees or these guys, you might as well expect for somebody to try to come take your job,” Weeden said, via the Associated Press. “We’re talking about a multibillion-dollar corporation, essentially. There’s going to be changes. Obviously, we’ve already seen some. But there’s going to be competition. The guys that drafted me are no longer there, so I fully expect there to be competition. I would want competition. I want to go into camp and compete. If I had won 10 or 11 games last year, that may not be the case, but we weren’t able to get that done.”

Weeden said it was “exciting” to get a chance to play for Norv Turner and said that he’s spoken to Troy Aikman about playing for Turner. It’s hard to assess Weeden’s chances of holding onto the starting job without knowing the identity of who his competition will be, but his attitude should benefit him in any battle for the job. The choice will be based on a lot more than attitude, of course, but Weeden’s chances wouldn’t be too good if he were pouting about the fact that the new regime wasn’t sold on his abilities.

Brandon is philosophical about the matter. “There is always going to be a younger old guy coming along to challenge you for the job…”

bensstinkyfingers says:Feb 8, 2013 3:04 PM

Be careful what you wish fro Weeds! I hope he steps up his game and wins the job, he can make all the hrows just needs to fine tune his game. WOuld ha e to see Lombardi, Banner push for a change a QB just to stroke their egos, and doing it for the sake of new regime.

I do like his attitude. He has an arm, but the coaches in the last regime kinda held him back. I didn’t see hardly any deep balls the last 5 games. It was like we showed we could do it and then we stopped doing it.

yess Weeden is future hope he wins the job he can make all the throws as i tell everyobdy that Weeden hater!!!
JUST GET HIM SOME WRs AND ANOTHER RB and fix THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE OL and get some DB’s AND WERE SET

I don’t get why people are so down on Weeden. He had over 3,000 yards passing and a passer rating over 70. He accomplished this with 1 receiver and a running back that was playing through injury most of the season. If you added another receiver or 2 and a good receiving tight end, I think they would have something.

joemammy says:Feb 8, 2013 4:03 PM

Forcing Brandon Weeden into that West Coast offense was a mistake. I can see him doing very well in Turner’s more vertical game, with Weeden working more out of the shotgun and a spread formation.

Wow, so far two comments about the Browns receivers from posters who obviously didn’t pay attention last season….

trickbunny says:Feb 8, 2013 4:54 PM

Loved the “dropsies” comment. After the first couple games this season, nobody on the Browns had a problem catching the ball. Greg Little, who led the league in drops last year, dropped a few in the first couple games and then was more or less “cured” and hung onto pretty much every pass that was thrown to him over the last 13-14 games of the season. No other Browns receiver seemed to have a any pass catching problems in 2012. Drops haven’t been a problem for the Browns pretty much at all in 2012.

Brandon Weeden is better than you guys think… Just wait and see.. I think this guy is going to shock a lot of people when he’s given a GOOD opportunity to throw the ball.. The game will slow down, and his fastball will speed up..

coop16 says:Feb 8, 2013 7:19 PM

Look, I don’t want to dump on Weeden, who seems like a good guy, but he’s 29 years old and he just can’t play. His QBR was 26.6, which is abominable. (Fellow rookie Russell Wilson, a third-round pick, had a 69.6 QBR.) The Football Outsiders’ metrics show Weeden as the 34th best QB in the league, worse even than Kevin Kolb and Blaine Gabbert. Face it, we can’t win with this guy. Next man up, please.

macbull says:Feb 9, 2013 7:33 AM

Total QBR leaves a lot left to interpretation of a QBs performance, by someone? We have no idea who is judging the info or if the method used.

Does QBR take into consideration, the strength of schedule?

Did the method used take into account the experience level of the entire offensive unit?

The QBR is based on someone’s opinion in many cases…for example.

1. QBR incorporates information from game charting, such as passes dropped or thrown away on purpose…

….WHO is making that judgement, whether a pass was thrown away on purpose or not? If a WR breaks his pattern in and the QB throws an out, those making this QBR judgement can’t factor in what really happened on a play.

2. QBR splits responsibility on plays between the quarterback, his receivers, and his blockers. Drops, for example, are more on the receiver, as are yards after the catch, and some sacks are more on the offensive line than others.

…but WHO is making these judgements? Those making these judgements don’t have a team’s playbook or know what pass route options a WR might have on a particular play. For example throws a Int…did the WR make the correct read and chose the right option on the play, OR did the QB make the wrong read?

Someone is making that judgement based on opinion.

3. QBR has a clutch factor which adds (or subtracts) value for quarterbacks who perform best (or worst) in high-leverage situations.

…a rookie QB surrounded by veterans who have been through many high pressure situations, is likely to do better in this category than a rookie QB surrounded by inexperienced teammates who have little experience playing in “high-leverage situations”.

Does QBR take this factor into considerations? NO !

4. QBR combines passing and rushing value into one number and differentiates between scrambles and planned runs.

…SOMEONE is making this judgement…it’s 3rd down with 3 yds to go for a 1st down…QB rolls out with the option to run the ball if a WR is not open. Those making this QBR judgement won’t have any idea what the play called for, if the QB did run.

The whole point I’m making, this QBR figure is based in part on someone’s judgement and not on bare stats. Therefore, QBR could be fatally flawed if those doing the judging come in with an opinion.

Total QBR (listed as just QBR) is a metric created by the ESPN Stats & Information group.

I prefer the old fashioned way of judging a QBs performance…the raw stats. Just I posted Weeden’s rookie stats and Peyton Manning’s rookie stats…it’s easy to see Weeden’s numbers are comparable.

In Manning’s case, the Colts supported Manning and built their offense around him and added the needed talent to fully take advantage of Manning’s strong points.

…but in Cleveland, our rookie front office of Haslam, Banner and Lombardi refuse to support Weeden and call for a competition for starting QB next season…Weeden was a Holmgren/Heckert pick, not a Haslam/Banner/Lombardi pick !

Fact is, since returning to the NFL in 1999, the Cleveland Browns have been the worst franchise when it comes to “supporting” their QBs.

The Browns have had more QB competitions than any team in the NFL since 1999.

Every other rookie QB who started last season is being supported by their front office…no threat competition, no threat of bringing someone in.

Wonder what would happen if the Browns told their QB, hey, you are the guy, so relax, enjoy the offseason and come back ready play.

BTW, if the Browns bring in Alex Smith, paying him 9 million a year or more…he will be the starter…regardless of the BS from the front office about a “competition” for the starting job.

This would be Haslam/Banner/Lombardi’s way of kicking (Holmgren/Heckert’s pick) Weeden to the curb, claiming he lost the competition. The new management team forgets, Browns fans have seen that game played here in Cleveland, before.

Loved the “dropsies” comment. After the first couple games this season, nobody on the Browns had a problem catching the ball. Greg Little, who led the league in drops last year, dropped a few in the first couple games and then was more or less “cured” and hung onto pretty much every pass that was thrown to him over the last 13-14 games of the season. No other Browns receiver seemed to have a any pass catching problems in 2012. Drops haven’t been a problem for the Browns pretty much at all in 2012.

I am not sure what team you watched, but that is you opinion. Gordon fixed his dropsies, but not the remainder of the team like Owen M., Cribbs a few times, Richardson, the list is long. Check the stats or google.
Who dropped the ball the most in the AFC North? In terms of passes, it was the Cleveland Browns for the second season in a row.

The Browns dropped 27 passes in 2012, according to ESPN Stats & Information. But the Browns were the only team in the division whose drops decreased from the previous season.

In 2011, Cleveland recorded 33 dropped passes. The Bengals had five more dropped passes than the year before and finished with 25. The Steelers dropped 23 passes and the Ravens had 21.

Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green led all players in the division with nine drops. But the Pro Bowl receiver was also targeted 158 times. In comparison, Browns receiver Greg Little had seven drops on just 85 targeted passes. Little, who led the AFC North with 11 dropped passes last year, was second in the division this year behind Green.

The other five players in the AFC North with at least four drops were: Bengals tight end Jermaine Gresham (seven), Steelers receiver Mike Wallace (six), Browns receiver Josh Gordon (five), Ravens receiver Torrey Smith (four) and Browns fullback Owen Marecic (four). This per ESPN. Sure Weeden had some throws off but even the best did too, especially when it counted in the playoffs. e.g. Pittsburgh, Broncos, etc..

tsr3000 says:Feb 10, 2013 11:48 AM

BW is way better than the average fan thinks. He is primed to make a big splash. Finally they will open the playbook for him.